One of the recurring features that we do in Fun with Franchises (a feature within a feature) is, after we finish watching a film, we go through and pick out our favorite images from that film. These images could be anything from really famous images from the film or franchise, really beautifully composed shots, shots that are funny to us because of the facial expressions being made in them or because of what we said about them in the article in which they appeared, or simply because they have boobs in them.

How we do this is, in the same way we watch the films, Colin and I separately pick out about ten to fifteen shots that we really liked. (This typically ends up being him picking out around 30 and me having around 70.) Then we compare lists, and whichever ones we both chose automatically make our final list. Everything else we talk through. We have it down to a science by now. Within four total emails, we’re left with a final list of ten images we liked the best, along with ten honorable mentions, which were also as good, but just missed out on making the list proper. (And then more we just work in. Just cause.)

It’s not very complicated (like most things we do here at B+ Movie Blog), and is just a way for us to point out shots that we really liked in the films, especially since we tend to pick stuff that’s not always on the beaten path. (We also don’t officially rank the list of shots. We just put them in chronological order. Simply picking them is hard enough. We don’t want to make our lives any harder. Plus, we’re lazy.)

That said — here are our favorite images from Iron Man 3:

1. That nod

It’s so great. It’s like that moment parents give their children when putting them to bed. Except that he’s giving it as he’s about to fuck this chick. “Yes… all is right with the world.”

Colin:

That nod is so creepy, but so awesome. “Yes. You’re going to fuck her now. I’ll be right here.”

2. This

It’s a nice silhouette, wide shot, nice line going across the screen. Plus I see this and remember that they talked about Sand Creek over it, and that makes me happy. So that’s something. I can’t say that about 90% of the shots in this movie.

Colin:

This could be from anything, which is the sad part. Like, it’s a decent shot, for sure, but could any of you look at that and go, “Oh shit, Iron Man 3,” like you knew it instantly? I’m betting that’s a no.

3. This

This feels like one of those sarcastic superhero shots. Spider-Man or Deadpool. Just laying there. In that tone of that kid from the Sandlot after the treehouse explodes. “We’ve been going about this all wrong. I blame myself.” This is the moment you talk to yourself after you’ve fallen on your ass. Because you can’t just get up. You have to assess the situatio nfirst.

Colin:

This gets back to the patina on the suit, which is a theme we’ve revisited a few times during CGI-heavy franchises. The first I really remember was that one shot at the end of Revenge of the Sith with the stormtroopers up close, aiming at Jimmy Smits. After two movies of gleaming stormtroopers shot from medium distances, we got a really nice closeup with the battle scarring on their armor and stuff. One thing I appreciate about this franchise is how the Iron Man suits get scuffed up and how they make sure you see it in detail.

4. Overhead

Simple, overhead. This kinda reminds me of that shot from Kill Bill of the blood spattering across the snow.

Colin:

Not the shot of him head-on, pulling the suit. That’s the trailer shot. This is the better shot. Overhead shots in the snow work like, 95 percent of the time. And the other five percent is cause you screwed something up big time. I like that they took the time to work in this shot because it means that they were trying to do more than bare minimum.

5. This shot

It’s more the angle than anything. I like the suit just chilling there as he talks in a phone booth. Plus — phone booth. Those aren’t gonna be a thing anymore. And that sucks. I think we should bring them back.

Colin:

That’s pretty good. Didn’t even think of this shot. Fogged up phone booth and the suit passed out outside. I say ‘passed out’ because his suit is basically his drunk friend for most of this movie.

6. This shot

You know that moment where you wanna hook up with someone, but you don’t want to seem rude or overeager, but they also wanna hook up with you, but the movie’s also pretty good, and there’s Chinese food coming?

Colin:

The drunk friend returns. Seriously, that’s like Favreau in PCU.

7. This face

Colin:

This moment is when he said, “I-I-I did that,” isn’t it? Closeup shots for gravity, people. And for good actors. This kind of shot reminds me of how upset we were that Hugo Weaving didn’t get more of these in Captain America.

This is not that moment. This is the moment where he shoots that oil guy in the head. We both had that thought of, “They should have just done this shot and held it for an uncomfortably long period of time.”

Plus, I really like his face in this. It’s just the right amount of “acting,” and “conflicted,” and it actually makes you interested in how this guy can pull off such a good performance. Not just Ben Kingsley, I mean Trevor Slattery. This could have been a really powerful moment. As it is, I like the shot and can pretend the moment is better, and since this movie blows for shots, I’ll take that.

8. Falling Asleep While Drinking a Beer

Not only have we all been there, this is how I prefer to nap.

Colin:

That’s just for being Kingsley and drinking beer. This is where we are. This movie has no shots, so it’s like, “Eh, Ben Kingsley drinking a beer, though?”

9. “I got next.”

This is how you show up to a party — holding a ping pong paddle and hooked up to a car battery.

Colin:

He’s here for the gangbang.

10. Metaphors

This comes at the end of the movie, so it’s not even really a metaphor. This could have been a powerful shot in context. Instead it’s just a good shot that works out of context that really means nothing in the actual film.

Colin:

Even better than the comparable shot from Iron Man 2. Hooray, metaphors!

– – – – – – – – – – –

Honorable Mentions:

“Don’t tell me not to touch shit.”

I am, above all things, a fan of spite. Spite and sarcasm.

Colin:

This is seriously all we got out of Favreau. This and some Facetime. Favreau doesn’t like your plant. Fuck your plant. He’s wearing a bolo tie.

Big brain

Colin:

This is sorta nice, but really, it just makes me want to get drunk and go to a planetarium. And folks, I need no extra help wanting to get drunk and go to the planetarium.

But in the meantime, this will suffice. I want my rooms to look like this. Colin was around me in college. I did the really cheap version of this a lot.

Iron Rapist

He actually is here for the gangbang.

The other suits are in the garage.

Colin:

Wishful thinking. That’s all this is. And also, Marvel needs to cut it out with the rape imagery, like, now. They have way too much rape imagery.

This

This is just hilarious to me. Just out of context — funny.

Plus, it’s a relatively simply shot. So that’s nice.

I’d have liked if they pulled a Quantum of Solace, and just cut to her up here, twitching for like five seconds, as he was recouping.

Colin:

That’s one place to put a body. I dunno, cutting to bad guys’ dead bodies in weird positions seems to be an emerging key to comedy.

I breathe fire, motherfucker

Colin:

Really? See how few shots there are, that we end up with this? THIS?

I got nothing else. It was between this and Happy telling people to wear a badge. This movie sucks for shots. This is just a funny image for me, so here we are.

Yup

I like the idea of him hanging out in this kind of location. This could be Mayan ruins. That’s a nice look. And the suit actually fits in well, color-wise. So that’s nice.

Colin:

This looks like the place where Mathieu Amalric held his fundraiser gala in Quantum of Solace, and that’s really the only nice thing I had to say. It’s a solid location.

This shot

Framing. That’s pretty much it. Composition sticks out when you use it.

Colin:

Hey, shooting through things! Framing! You guys DO make movies occasionally, don’t you?

Silhouettes

Colin:

This was the shot where I was going to pause and then thought, “No, the silhouettes aren’t really there. They’ll make it a better shot in like 1 second.” And then the shot went away altogether when more dumb action happened. So we’re left with this. An shot that could have been top 10 if they’d just messed with the angle or popped some more light or something.

That’s why this isn’t in the top ten. Not a silhouette and not a clean shot. But the camera placement and the location and the action is all there. It just, doesn’t add up.

Also, seriously — great place for a musical number.

This

ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?

Colin:

KING KONG AIN’T GOT SHIT ON ME! I hate the character, but he had a few good poses. Really, this movie is a desert for shots.

Favs

Colin:

That’s it, Favreau. Check out what you’re dealing with. What a waste of a character.

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One response

*sigh*….Iron Man 3 frustrates me. Because they had a really, really good idea there. I love how they tried to use the Mandarin as a commentary on “Feindbilder” and how easily we are ready to accept them, especially since the villain is basically a result of the yellow scare. But other than casting Ben Kingsley, who obviously had a blast with the role, they messed up on every step on the way. I agree, it is really not shot particularly well, but even worse are the story problems. The villain is predictable and weak, the best one can say about the inclusion of the child is that at least they found a decent child actor and the plot is so contrived that even upon first viewing you keep noticing the plot holes. And then, to add insult to injury, they threw in this awful ending which basically does that one thing Marvel should never do: Removing a consequence. I honestly don’t mind them allowing characters to survive or to die and survive after all, but what they have to do is to show that actions have consequences. The arc reactor was Tony’s consequence. They should have never ever even thinking of removing it.

The sky jumping scene is pretty awesome but otherwise it is the perfect example for a good idea which was badly executed on every level. They even got the music wrong! I can life with the song at the beginning because it was pretty popular in 1999, but if Tony would listen to Christmas songs at all, it would be heavy metal versions. How can you get that one wrong?

The only good thing is that this was the first time Marvel truly stepped out of their comfort zone thematically.

"It was difficult for observers to tell whether ODB's wildly erratic behavior was the result of serious drug problems or genuine mental instability." -- My goal in life is to one day have this said about me.

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